Boycotting the 2008 Olympics…Or Not
By Keiti | August 9, 2008
There was a definite line drawn in the sand in the Misfit household last night - those of us who watched the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies and those of us who were boycotting.
Just for the record, I watched. As did my mom.
My dad did his own thing.
And I respect that, just as I respect those who made the decision to boycott.
I don’t agree with it, but I respect it.
Those who chose not to watch it, however, missed a spectacular show, probably the most opulent and breathtaking Olympic Opening Ceremony in the history of Olympic Ceremonies.
Seriously.
I was blown away. The amount of work that so obviously went into the preparations is astounding. 15,000 unique performers, each keeping in perfect time with the rest of the group that was performing. I mean, precision timing. The costumes were intricate and perfectedly beautiful. This was the people of China’s opportunity to shine, and shine they did.
Notice I said “people of China” not “government of China”.
The 2008 Olympiad isn’t about the government of China, whose policies I vehemently disagree with, but about the people of China who hardly have a say in what the Chinese Government says or does. It’s also about the athletes, from China and beyond, many of whom who have spent years preparing for this moment. The moment to show the entire world what they’re capable of - their athleticism that most of us can only dream of attaining. It’s their time to stand out and be rewarded for all of their hard work.
Those who chose to boycott based on China’s Government’s policies miss the point completely; the Olympics are a time to set aside differences, leave the most blatant politics at the door, and celebrate life in exuberant hopes and dreams; to realize that beneath any government’s policies people are far more alike than they are different. Looking beyond the trappings of culture we all want to be acknowledged for our strengths and sweat equity, the ability to be the best at what we do and, I dare say, who we are as individuals within the whole.
We have plenty of time to get back to boycotting - for now I’m content to sit in awe of people who have accomplished what most of us could only wish for and root them on in their respective quests for greatness.
Topics: 2008 Olympics |
August 11th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Just a little thought. I’d imagine most people in the good old USA like to think of themselves as individuals but if we were to take the word as it was introduced to us from the French Revolution then when saying ‘I’m am individual’ we’d be saying in effect ‘I am a greedy asshole’. Words and ideologies have an infinite amount of meaning - even to the point of contradiction. Go live in China amongst the natives for a while and you’ll learn that even simple concepts like bathtub, plate, telephone and so on have a contextual meaning that are almost incomprehensible to a Westerner (don’t even get me started on the word ’service’)
I don’t really know what China is doing wrong. What kind of democracy should they have? What kind of human rights should they practice? Should they use the George Bush quick method to reinventing meaning, and just say ‘torture means… and then have their secret police type it into Wikepedia?’
I’m glad you watched but I’m not sure why people are boycotting the Olympics. I think the strangest part comes in the fact that we merrily buy products (that were once made in the USA) from people being paid 6 cents an hour to make them… and then we want them to live with white, middle class American values and morals. Even the Founding Fathers of America believed that these ‘values and morals’ only belonged to an upper class educated people - which was also considered a responsibility. It was Libertarian philosophy but not for the masses. How should the Government of China create ’suburbia’ and to still kick out products at 1/100 of the cost of what it would cost in the USA, so that Americans can happily go to Wal-Mart and buy, buy, buy?
Maybe you can explain to me why you know what the ‘real meaning’ to right and wrong and good and bad are… is it that the God lives in America?
So what kind of individual are you? The traditionalist or the newly invented one? This idea of ‘existing as physically finite real beings’ still must go through transcendental discourse - remember Neils Bohr and quantum physics? Even the hard sciences no longer adhere to the idea that physical, finite reality is a possibility, so why do Americans persist with this illusion? I am an individual as stated by Americans reaches into the realm of absurdity - as using modern science as the measurement.
I know you didn’t boycott but I just don’t understand why someone would boycott China for its political policies - and then at the same time eat from the fruits of these so-called ‘poor policies’.
Are you getting all tingly over Scotland? Well I hope everything goes off without a hitch. Haggis is calling your name.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:49 am
A couple of thoughts…
I’m not boycotting anything, I’m watching and enjoying the Olympics - because I enjoy watching sports and I only get to watch competitive ping pong once every 4 years.
Having said that, I’ve been to China. It’s an odd country. Imagine if the people of Wisconsin spray painted palm trees on the sides of their buildings, put up a tiki bar on every corner and then tried to convince you that you were in the Bahamas. Would you believe it? Of course not. However, that’s what I see on TV and that’s what I saw when I was over there. The average citizen of China makes less than $20/year…and the budget for the opening ceremony was $300 million…does that make sense? Does it seem like overkill?
I was overwhelmed by how proud people in China were of their up and coming country, and they’ve got a lot to be proud of and have come a long ways. But it didn’t take much effort to see that they had merely swept most of the undesireable stuff under the rug and hid things behind the curtains. Poverty was everywhere you looked, no matter how hard they tried to hide it.
It reminded me of my trip to Japan. They would drag us all over to see all of the great temples and shrines and all of the opulence (sp?). What they didn’t tell you was that the greatest temples were built during the times of greatest hardship - essentially the emporers were using ALL of the resources to honor themselves at the expense of the masses.
Yes, they fill Wal Mart with tons of stuff we want to buy and can’t afford to build here, but I hope that most Americans can see through the smog of Beijing to see that it’s a dirty wretched country covered in a thin veil of success.
Maybe we should touch on their Olympic training program? Think Jedi training…if you show talent at a young age, you say goodbye to your parents and move away to a training facility.
Ok, enough for now, I’m getting tired and frustrated.
Hope all is well in the land of retired people.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am
~Keith,
I’m not sure it’s a valid or fair argument to throw the ills of the boycotters / protesters at the feet of the Americans - or to make the United States the scapegoat for your argument. While we certainly have a problem with being a materialistic society with our priorities out of whack as a whole, the US is no more the devil nor no less imperfect than any other society on this planet of ours. There have been plenty of other countries with protesters and boycotters - some westerners, some not.
As for the human rights issues, I’m not convinced this particular bone of contention boils down to turning China into a democracy, but rather the treatment of human beings in general. Every single one of us deserves to be treated in a dignified and respectful manner. I think every country could pay better attention to this.
My point was that the Olympics (in my opinion) isn’t the time or the place to make a political statement against the Chinese Government - it’s the time and place to set aside politics and celebrate the accomplishments of PEOPLE as opposed to what their country’s government does.
~dh
Happy to see you back!
In comparative terms, yes the opulence of the opening ceremony seems like overkill when you think about it in terms of how much an average citizen of China makes. But why should China be any different than any other host country when it comes to how much is spent creating the infrastructure for an Olympic Opening Ceremony? Each host country spends an inordinate amount of money doing so, just as each country does their best to divert attention from the undesirable. It makes me think of how the former Soviet Union denied the existence of serial killers in their country while Andrei Chikatilo spent 12 years brutally murdering at least 53 people.
And, yes, I am well aware of their Olympic training program - the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries used to do the same. I’m not so blind as to pretend it’s an even remotely perfect system.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
So I found this link, which discusses something that I had been noticing - all the empty seats in the stands! I think the following quote pretty well sums up my earlier statements:
Admitting today that he was “concerned about not filling the seats,” Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee, confessed that Olympic volunteers had been pressed into service to fill up the empty spaces and “encourage atmosphere”.
Here is the link to the full story (there’s a link to it on Drudgereport right now too):
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23531077-details/If%20they%20fought%20to%20get%20tickets%20why%20are%20there%20so%20many%20empty%20seats/article.do?expand=true#StartComments
August 12th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
It just keeps getting better…the little girl that sang was lip synching because the real singer has a chubby face and a bad smile:
**Begin Quote
“This illustrates an important aspect of these Olympic Games,” said Xiao Qiang, the director of the China Internet project at the University of California at Berkeley and former dissident.
“It is all about projecting the right image of China with no respect for honesty or for the audience.
“I do not think the Chinese state realises how unethical this is, they don’t understand what kind of values they are reflecting.”
Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses.
**End Quote
Again, here’s the link:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080812081108.7l9e8dck&show_article=1
August 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for those dh. Bored day at work?
I noticed the empty seats last night during the men’s gymnastics finals and saw the article about the little girl singing (or not) this morning.
I don’t know why anyone’s surprised - Lord knows that kind of stuff goes on all the time here in the states.
In terms of the lip-syncing, anyway.
I guess it just goes to show how as different as the cultures are, some things are universal.
Haven’t checked out the links as of yet, but will do sometime later today.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
K,
You missed the point, it’s more propaganda…they’re taking volunteers and making them sit in the stands to “fill up” the events.
That’s the part I don’t think you’d see anywhere else. I hope you get a chance to read the article…
Yup, I was super bored at work today.
dh
August 12th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
dh,
Didn’t miss the point at all - perhaps the mode of propaganda is different, but it does happen in varying degrees at the Olympics regardless of where they’re being held.
Am off to read the article right now.
Sorry about the work-induced boredom.
Of course, I’d know nothing about that.
hey…I sent you a text msg after the 1/2 ironman. Did you receive it? I never heard anything back from you.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:59 am
I got it, but I was just mentally capable of sending out the first text message, let alone replying intelligently to yours…sorry…I’ll do better next time.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:01 am
No worries - I just wanted to make sure you didn’t think I blew you off, is all.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:16 am
I have been following this thread and feel that it is time to at my 2 pfennig.
I am not boycotting watching the olympics. I do not however, agree with what the Chinese government is doing or has done in the past. However, to understand what is going on in modern China you have to look to the past.(a lot of what I will say also applies to Russia and the Middle East).
In China, there is no history of democracy. Even within it’s religious culture there isn’t one. Confuisism (sp?) is more a social code than a religion, it teaches that the individual is not important, that the body politic is the more important. In that culture, the individual has always been expected to sublimate themselves to the whole. If you look at the history of China, it has always been insular and fairly xenophobic. They are the middle kingdom and all others are inferior to them culturally. What the Party has done in China is much like what happened in Russia when the Bolsheviks took power. They replaced on Despot for another. It is what the “peasants” are used to. The Chinese Communist replaced the Emperors/Japanese invaders, Lenin and his crew replaced the Czar.
As for no fat ugly people, it doesn’t serve the interest of the culture of the Middle Kingdom to show perceived inferior people, much like the Nazi’s did in WWII in showing the “Perfect Aryan” in their propaganda films.
The problem that many have, is that they try to impose their cultural mores on others. Like Bridget Bardot and the French and the whole row about Korean BBQ dog thing, but the same people who objected to the BBQ consider horse to be a delicacy. What we need to remember is that what fits our culture doesn’t necessarly work in other cultures. Just like the government that is working in Iraqi won’t look like or act like the government or democracy that we have here in the states.
Your Big Bro
(sorry, I hit a teacher mode)
August 13th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Big Bro~
Was wondering when you were going to chime in.
I don’t think anyone can argue that the Chinese Government’s policies on human rights has been dismal at best - the same can be said about many governments - I think Keith would agree with you (keith, correct me if I’m wrong) that your take on the Chinese Government wanting to impose their social mores on others is akin to the US wanting democratic values everywhere else.
I think you’re right, though, that we (every different culture - not just the US) needs to keep in mind that what fits one culture doesn’t necessarily work in another. But that’s an immigration argument and one that I’m staying away from from the time being.
love you.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I never felt the pressure of conforming in China but I wouldn’t want to have been a Chinese person testing the waters. I still have to ask what kind of Democracy or Liberty can one imagine on 6 cents an hour? Once again, the Founding Fathers of America did not believe in universal libertarian ethics. The US Constitution was written for the educated, land-property and business owners.
I could tell you horror stories about China and the system of ‘face’ and ‘guan xi’ but it just doesn’t make sense in the West - my horrors were due to my cultural ignorance and the fact that I couldn’t speak Chinese. I do have to say that I’m surprised that none of their new Olympic buildings haven’t yet collapsed. All of the foreign staff were placing bets on how many people were going to die during the Olympics because of structures being built with guan xi instead of engineers, architects and real construction companies. This is something that happens quite often in China and it gets censored - like 50% of the high rises in some cities are not occupied because they were built by ‘the mayors pig farmer brother-in-law.’
I still don’t believe there is One democracy, so I only understand criticizing one’s own country and dealing with problems that one is part of - we still like to claim China has a problem with human rights but at the end of the day it all boils to down to the 6 cents an hour worker. We love the results but not the methods? Somebodies got to pay the price… and if that means a strict, totalitarian government, then it seems like most Americans support it 100%. I don’t see Wal-Marts of America closing any time soon, nor do I see production returning to the US any time soon. Americans would have to actually become responsible and take interests in the complexities of politics and international business. Boycotting and criticizing China is hypocritical. If you want to change it, shut down US Corporations and the deed would be done. Unfortunately our interests begin and end with a lip-synching Britney Spears who gets paid hundreds of millions of dollars - or was that Milly Vanilly? At least the little girls singing and lip-synching are doing it for the love of their country and not the love of money and fame - I don’t completely agree with China but then again I’m not Chinese…. I do have to say that America’s infatuation with the Paris Hiltons makes lipsyncing children seem unimportant.
Most Chinese aren’t forced to do things. There’s no such thing as universal individual perceptions and this is where Americans tend to get radical and fundamental in their perceptions - are we defining Individual in the traditional sene, ‘I’m a greedy asshole’ or are we going to use the convenient, yet ethically charged ‘I am Individual as reflected in the Universality of Individuality… a quasi-Christian function - humanity as one universal entity.
Chinese people have a crisis if they’re not in close proximity to one another. It was almost impossible for me to go running in China during the day. People would literally toss themselves into me as I tried jogging down streets. How else can a mother, father, the child, the grandmother and the grandfather live together in an apartment that would hardly be considered a studio apartment by Western standards? I’ve also seen this with friends from the ghetto. Wesley Willis, for example, would have psychotic fits if he was brought out to the woods or near open waters. He couldn’t stand not being surrounded by concrete,tall buildings, buses or confined in a room.
I still don’t understand on which moral high ground Americans pass judgment on the world - the highest rate of murder? The highest rate of rape? More people in prison then the rest of the world combined? Politicians that believe lying is excusable if its done with ‘national vision’ as its goal? Second highest rate of infant mortality? Number 36 in the world in regards to level of education… the richest country in the world pumps out more stupid people then anywhere else?
I’m not sure but I can imagine the USA is right up there with the number of executions happening in China. So where’s the moral high ground?